Kiria
|epithet = |gender = Female |race = Human |age = 20 |birthday = Unknown |capturelevel = |status = Active |height = 5'7" (170.18 cm.) |weight = 120 lbs. (54.43 kg.) |blood type = A |ability = Cooking (Snow White) Voice of the Ingredients Dark Technique |affiliation = Loosely IGO |occupation = Chef |partner = Marimo (Bishokuya) Parker (Animal) |relatives = Kadotsu ('Grandfather' - Adopted) Unknown Father Unknown Mother |debut = Memoirs of a Bishokuya |leitmotif = Unknown }} is the main female protagonist of Memoirs of a Bishokuya. A young chef of mysterious origins, she was found by her adopted grandfather, Kadotsu, abandoned on the streets of Gourmet Town. She was taken in by the older chef and raised within the walls of Kanshon. Taking an interest in her guardian's work, Kiria began studying under him and learned the basics of cooking, hearing of such things as the Dark Techniques for the first time. Following the defeat of NEO and the fall of Gourmet Spice, she decided to depart from home and travel the world to aid and cook for the various starving people still out there. She traveled the Human World for quite some time, moving from village to village and utilizing her blossoming cooking prowess whenever and wherever it was needed. During this period, she met the young Bishokuya known only as Marimo and his Animal Partner, the Dire Tiger named Parker. Working with him in order to hunt the Guerrilla Crab that plagued the area around Goka Village, the two became friends and then a combo, journeying together in order to find rarer and more valuable ingredients, often taking requests from the IGO and a variety of other clients, including even her foster grandfather's restaurant, the famous Kesutoran. Her skill as a chef has only grown during this period, from the recreation of the famed Carat Spaghetti to discovering a new cooking method for the fiery Pyroniate. In turn, she has developed the ability to hear the Voice of the Ingredients, and stepped into the realm of the Dark Techniques following her acquisition of the knife Snow White (built from the scales and claws of the Eve Dragon). Her reputation has grown as a result, earning her the name of . This growth is her main focus throughout the series, and she has developed a similar dream as her combo partner, seeking to find and cook the legendary NEWS of Acacia's Full Course. For her incredible amount of knowledge about the Gourmet Age, she is often called the . Appearance As a child, Kiria had an overall petite build and was even considered smaller than a variety of other people her own age (though she didn't see much of them due to spending most of her time practicing her cooking skills in a variety of settings and scenarios). Overall her hairstyle remained exactly the same as it would turn out as an adult (although naturally much smaller than it eventually became due to all laws of growth), including the flower pinned into her hair, which remained the whitish-blue shade as well, in addition to her brown-colored eyes. In terms of an outfit she wore a simple, long-sleeved white sweater with slightly rolled up sleeves that exposed most of her arms and the pink-colored shirt she wore underneath. The sweater also sported a small series of buttons that appeared to be purely decorative, with the color of the undershirt also appearing from the brim of the sweater and surrounding its own collar. She also wore a very simple brown skirt around her waist and most of her legs, as well as having simple sandals with a tan/light-brown colored soles and the straps being black-colored. As an adult, Kiria has grown up to be a surprisingly beautiful woman with an immaculate figure and an overall well-developed body. Her hair remains in a similar style that it was when she was child, though at times it appears to be slightly more square and 'chopped' at the edges, as if she has been cutting it in a more rough manner. She also seems to don a variety of outfits as an adult, depending on the situation and what she is doing at the time. Generally, her most 'casual' outfit seems to consist of a shirt that hugs her figure somewhat tightly and reveals some of her chest, while also leaving her shoulders and nearby chest area completely bare. While the color of this shirt seems to vary, it generally appears to be either pure white or a very soft blue in color, occasionally with a much darker blue trim around the actual edges. The shirt also appears to be adorned with lines on either side of it, symmetrically placed opposite of each other, and running up the shirt itself before vanishing into the trimming along either side of the shirt itself. She also dons a simple black or navy blue colored skirt, as well as long white stockings that seem to also double as shoes/sandals in a way, as she does not wear any other type of footwear while wearing this outfit (or at least nothing worn on top of the stockings themselves). At times she also has a form of satchel attached to her waist, allowing her to store a variety of cooking materials (and later on, most importantly, her knife) within it. This is not the only outfit that she wears while doing ingredient work, whether it be procurement along with her Combo Partner or simply cooking beasts or ingredients out in the wild, as she also dons an outfit that has apparently been designed for more rigorous journies and escapades. The most prominent feature of this uniform is a large cloak of sorts that is adorned with a trim of white feathers around the collar. The collar itself is a dark color and extends into the main body of the cloak itself, which is a much lighter white color. There appears to be a variety of small bits of fur trim located on certain points along the main body of the cloak, and at the ends, rather than tapering out into a single line like other garments of its type, but rather ends up bunched up stylistically into a variety of little tail-esque structures that are held into diamond-style shapes by simple black bands placed strategically around the ends of the cloak itself. The part of the outfit that covers her torso seems to be similar to her 'casual' uniform, though in this variation it doubles as a skirt as well and appears to have a greater variety of lines lacing along it, making it appear at times as though it was made of a variety of interlocking parts. The stockings from the casual outfit also return, and this time there appears to be a clearer form of footwear, though it seems to have the same overall texture and color that the stockings themselves have, only separated from them by a small band-esque structure that could even work as the beginnings of the shoes and potentially imply that they are actually differentiated from the stockings themselves. Finally, she wears simple thin wristbands with heart symbols placed on the center of one side on each, and appear to be bigger than the actual bands themselves. Kiria seems to wear a variety of other outfits as well over the course of the series, though with varying rates of reoccurance. When venturing into aquatic areas and biomes or while simply relaxing in places such as hot springs or actual pools, she dons a simple swimming outfit that consists of a simple light (almost cerulean) blue top and a lower section of the same color. The swimming outfit in general also has something of a frilled trim around large sections of the overall design. When boarding the Gourmet Carriage and intending other such formal events, Kiria will go with a very elegant dress that is a light blue in color with a brilliant gold trim; the outfit highlighting her figure slightly and exposing some of her chest as well. She also seems to possess some kind of personalized Rider Suit of some manner, which appears to be a great deal more ornate than the standard make and have more overall parts and designs, including several isnginias in some cases, as well as sections of the suit that simply appear white (though this could be a manner of her placing clothing over ''the Rider Suit itself for modesty's reasons). For currently unknown occasions she possesses a final, much rarer outfit that appears to consist of a large, almost vest-like structure with elements of a shirt with an alternating light and dark color scheme and white-colored wing designs placed on either sleeve. The front section itself is also kept in place by a stylish fabric belt of sorts held together by a golden ring, and underneath this she wears a simple black dress with a somewhat revealing top section (and can be considered a darker variant of her most 'casual' outfit itself). In addition, the rose ornament in her hair now has a ribbon hanging out from behind it. She almost always sports a small blush on the high parts of both her cheeks, and it has been considered to be something similar to a beauty mark in this particular case. Personality Kiria was a highly inquisitive child, described often as the kind of little one who exudes curiosity from every pore. She was always everywhere and attempting to see all parts of both Kanshon and her father's work space in the hopes of seeing all that she could and picking up as much potential cooking experience that she could possibly achieve. Very early on, Kadotsu lectured her on the importance of food to people, and that being a chef is more than just an occupation: they are the ones who provide a future for countless of people, their meals creating hope for those with none and promising the continuation of life and the continuous chance to always move forward, just as long as there is a fresh, warm meal in their stomachs and more to look forward to in the future. Kiria took these words to heart, and became determined to provide the whole word with all the food that it needs and desires, giving her a goal to continue down the road of cooking, and filling her training with even more vigor and drive than it had been filled with previously. Upon becoming an adult and setting out on her own journey, Kiria seems to have mellowed ever-so-slightly. While she still remains fascinated by every new ingredient, beast, and environment that she lays eyes on, she seems to be able to control this instinct and often restricts her reactions to something more akin to wonder than frantic, explosive enthusiasm (though this can emerge depending the level of whatever she is spotting for the first time). Rather, her inquisitive side seems to have sharpened and taken a greater amount of control, and she is therefore prone to asking a variety of questions at a moral normal tone of voice, though with the same rapid-fire speed as when she was a youngling. This can sometimes prove to be an annoyance for those who are meeting her for the first time (and therefore being subjected to her barrage of inquiries for the first time as well), though many simply respond with a moment of stunned silence and then somewhat bewildered replies, often at a much slower pace than she is releasing the questions out to be answered (though it can be noted that most who reply this way are generally very kind-hearted, and those with varying fuse lengths and temperaments will almost certainly react in a times radically different manner than the previously mentioned people and their reactions). Her title/epithet of the/a '''Gourmet Otaku '''seems to be well earned, as along with (and because of) her questioning nature she has amassed quite a bit of knowledge about the Gourmet Age and the various ingredients and beasts, including a great deal of info on creatures that have not yet been seen or fully recognized by the general public, thanks to her foster-grandfather's own extensive knowledge from his wide array of travels and adventures. Because of this amount of knowledge, Kiria is equally inclined to explain a wide variety of topics depending on what is being asked, from a creature's specific weak points (or those that she knows/are public knowledge), an ingredient's habitat, and more. She even has a large amount of information on the top chefs of both the previous and current Gourmet Age, most likely due to her semi-addiction to a wide variety of gourmet magazines and even cookbooks in general (with her often being described as 'inhaling' dozens of them at a time, sometimes even during one sitting). This allows her to explain people, concepts, and various other bits of trivia that her combo partner, who is generally less up-to-date with things during the Gourmet Age, and also making her something of the main source of exposition in the series, often explaining things at times only for the sake of the viewer. She also has something of a tendency to 'fangirl' over a variety of cooking tools and even famous chefs whom she has only heard of and has not actually met, at times even swooning happily when such an event occurs, much to the chagrin of her combo partner and those she often travels with. When it comes to both food and her cooking Kiria is as generous as she is kind. The entire point of her leaving home in the first place was her desire to feed those who, despite the resurgence of the glorious Gourmet Age, still didn't have enough to eat, or even if they did it was not truly good or well-cooked food. She remains willing to cook for ''anyone, no matter their position or background, so long as they appear hungry enough that she finds even them worthy of food. She does have some standards, however, and there a certain kind of people whom she refuses to cook for unless they find themselves at death's door due to a lack of food or a similar situation. Among these people are those she has seen waste food or disrespect those who truly desire it or want to eat it. Kiria is especially kind and compassionate to those starving or have had no good food in their entire life, willing to at times put her very life on the in order to protect them or deliver them the food that they seek or should eat. The likes of the Bishokuikki and the Bishokukai often leave her with a feeling akin to disgust; especially with her belief that everyone deserves to eat and live, and their alternate philosophy and the two organizations' general efforts to claim all of the world's food for themselves or for their bosses, and at times their brutal methods can seem to be completely unforgivable to her. Kiria's guardian's words have truly taken deep root and she has a great amount of pride in herself as a chef and her overall cooking skill, to the point that she can at times become easily upset when someone insults her cooking skill. However, when her skill is disputed Kiria is actually more likely to explain her exact process or explain how the food turned out as it did, adding more detail and context to the meal itself. Depending on the person doing the criticism she can even ask for instruction from them or suggestions on how to make it better, often scribbling down these notes in a notebook that she seems to keep perpetually by her person, in order to hopefully incorporate said suggestions into her overall cooking style later. Based on this, it can be said that no matter how good her cooking gets, Kiria will always leave the door for getting better open, and won't brook talk of her cooking being 'perfect' or something along those lines, often insisting that it's not as good as it potentially could be and that others can and have done it better than she ever could. Thus, Kiria can be considered extremely humble and this remains one of her more noteworthy traits: that she always strives for greater and greater heights. In terms of her combo, Kiria seems to deeply trust and respect Marimo, often putting her very life in his hands and believing that he'll be able to see them through whatever comes their way. She does, however, often act as something of his real-world anchor and often keeps him down to earth when he comes up with his more fantastical ideas (something, at times, he is very, very ''prone to do). She also often acts as something of a gateway or interpreter for him, due to Marimo being notoriously under prepared for a lot of the more technological advancements of the Human World, and often Kiria finds herself explaining functions and technology that seem ordinary and pedestrian to him, who often finds himself baffled with sometimes the simplest of technologies. The two have a very small tendency to argue at times as well, mostly due to Marimo's incredible lack of patience and her at times strong desire to cook as slowly as possible, at times out of necessity and at times out of her own desire to simply relax while creating something. However, despite them occasionally clashing, the two have formed a strong friendship and each trusts the other one-hundred percent in their respective fields, with Kiria putting all her faith in Marimo's combat skills and his ability to hunt down ingredients, while he relies entirely on her intuition with cooking and her actual skill (as well as her ability to hear the Voice of the Ingredients, and much later on, her skill with Dark Techniques). Because of this Kiria deeply treasures her Snow White knife, seeing it as the undeniable proof of their combo and their combined goal to discover the most delicious ingredients in the world and make them accessible to all people alive, as well as Marimo's own faith in her cooking prowess and they strength they wield as a partnership. Nevertheless, Kiria isn't one to let everything slide and often acts as the Bishokuya's older sister in a way, making sure that he hopefully stays in line. She seems to act much more reserved and formal around those she has not met before, to the point that it seems a deliberate contradiction of her usual personality. This can mostly be interpreted as shyness on her part, and the more she gets to know someone the more her actual personality ends up shining through (though certain things can cause it to come out in the open immediatley, such as the sudden appearance of an ingredient, beast, or something else that piques her interest). History Synopsis Powers and Abilities Natural Abilities Ways of Combat '''Knife Skills'- Limited Hand-to-Hand Combat Capabilities- Physical Attributes Above-Average Stamina- At the beginning of the series, Kiria began with what can only be described as the average person's amount of stamina, and therefore could not entirely keep up with the likes of her combo partner for the most part during their early journies. However, as time went by she began to work on her own stamina in order to keep up with her new friend and Bishokuya combo. She continued to work more and more on each individual trip and ingredient procurement, in the hopes of eventually matching and potentially surpassing Marimo in his overall stamina and toughness. Currently, Kiria has improved her own stamina and potential by an incredible amount, being fully capable of keeping up just behind Marimo, and usually is seen running right alongside him (though at times when she desires to conserve energy, she can be seen dragging slightly behind him, though not by a great amount of distance). She has also managed to completely increase her endurance to the point that she can also keep up with Marimo with ease during such events and trips, with the two often moving as one in order to reach a specific point. This stamina has allowed her to keep up conversations with him even while the two are being chased or racing towards a goal, as well as performing a variety of other and similar multitasking options. This stamina also seems to be something of a mental phenomenon as well, as Kiria has increased her capacity for spending long amounts of time cooking, researching, and other similar pursuits, and can even maintain the same amount of concentratin throughout the entirety of these events. Thus, Kiria's overall stamina can be considered one of her strongest points as a chef in terms of physical capabilities. Enhanced Endurance/Durability- Superhuman Speed/Enhanced Agility- Chef Skills Genius/Prodigious-level Cooking Skill- Thanks to both the training from her grandfather, and after she had begun to travel the world, Kiria has continued to constantly polish and improve her cooking skills in every opportunity that she was given, especially after forming her combo and travelling the world to acquire a variety of incredible and delicious ingredients. Because of these collective events, Kiria's skill as a chef has continued to climb, and she is considered an incredible chef, potentially worthy of entering the World Ranking thanks to the variety of incredible achievements she has accomplished during her time as both a chef and as a combo partner. Kiria is often regarded as a genius or even a complete prodigy in the art, especially considering her love of cooking since she was a child. Having also acquired the ability to use the likes of the Voice of the Ingredients, and later on beginning to master the abilities known as the Dark Techniques, Kiria has continued to polish these skills so that she can produce even more delicious dishes and courses for others to share, especially those who count themselves among the less fortunate following the falling of the Meteor Spice. Her combo partner himself has admitted that she makes the best, if not some of his favorite cooking, and she has personally cooked each ingredient currently in his Full Course at least once (in fact, his Full Course had only just started when they officially joined together as a combo), illustrating his constant faith in her cooking skill. Voice of the Ingredients Voice of the Ingredients ''(食材の声, Shokuzai no Koe)''- From a very early part of her training to become a chef, Kiria was told about the phenomenon known as the Voice of the Ingredients, the ability to sense and hear the voices of the beings known as Food Spirits that have taken to lingering in the living world via a variety of ingredients (though this was something she remains unaware of for the present moment). However, during her training Kiria never managed to actually master the ability, and as time passed she slowly forgot about the idea in general, and by the time she set off to travel the world she had no memories of the teaching she had received regarding the subject. However, as time went on and she found herself face to face with more and more special preparation ingredients during her travels with her new combo partner, she found herself looking back on her training for inspiration in order to help her cook the difficult foods set before her, and in so doing she managed to remember her training on the Voice of the Ingredients. While she still couldn't access this ability in the slightest at first, as she continued to work and cook more and more difficult foods she slowly began to develop the ability and began to perfect it. Things came somewhat to a head when she was faced with the difficulty of preparing the Carat Spaghetti. While in the action of cooking it, Kiria's ability to hear the voices of the ingredients began to truly resonate, and she managed to clearly hear its voice, allowing her to not only prepare it, but later recreate it on her own once some had been procured. Since then, her talent in this field has only continued to grow, and she can now tune into the voices of the ingredients seemingly at will (though even she notes that this takes something of an internal 'shifting', preparing herself to start listening). The source of this seems to stem not just from her love of ingredients and everything related to the Gourmet Age, but also her desire to know more about everything, including the ingredients, leading to her habit of asking ingredients things about themselves (at times even asking them for specific parts of their cooking methods, though before the awakening of this ability she didn't expect much of an answer). Following the awakening, Kiria explains it as the ingredients finally responding back to her various queries, a thought that makes her truly and deeply happy. Dark Techniques Dark Technique ''(暗技（あんぎ）, Kura-waza (Angi))''- A technique that Kiria developed at a much ''slower pace than the likes of the Voice of the Ingredients and her own always-improving chef skills, Kiria first became aware of the Dark Technique's existence due to a passing mention of it by her own grandfather, who at the time refused to pry further iinto the subject. As time went by, Kiria encountered not just the name, but also the technique several times over the course of her various travels, mostly from her main rival, Heart of the Bishokukai, as well as from a variety of highly experienced chefs that she ran into on her group's travels on the Gourmet Carriage, specifically while they were making their way through the famous Gourmet Archipelago, and she became interested in learning the technique for herself, convinced that it would help her become both a better chef and a better combo partner. Her chance came when she received her own personal knife, '''Snow White', made from the parts of the fearsome Eve Dragon, a beast that had proven itself capable of regenerating large portions of its tissue at a time (as proven during its battle with Marimo, in which it had repaired areas that the Bishokuya had beaten off in the frenzy of their battle). With this knife now in hand, Kiria returned to her grandfather's home and restaurant so that he could teach her how to use the forbidden art. Agreeing to do so, her training resumed for what she believed would be one of the last times. Kadotsu taught her the basics of how to use the technique, but stated that she would figure out how to use it in actuality herself, much like he had. Agreeing begrudgingly, Kiria began practicing the technique whenever she could, and gradually developed a decent amount of skill in it, becoming capable of carefully sliding the knife through the very space between cells of an ingredient, beast, or even person, and using the regenerative properties of the Eve Dragon infused into the knife to revive the target bit by bit. While she does not consider herself anywhere near an expert in the art (and that is for the most part true), she has managed to acquire another dependable skill when facing the likes of Special Preparation Ingredients. Equipment Snow White (スノー・ワイト, Sunoo Waito)- Kiria's personal kitchen knife and the first cooking utensil she has made made especially for her own use, constructed by the specialty knife maker known as Rumplestiltskin, Snow White's basic parts are made of the scales, hide, and claws of the Gourmet World beast, the Eve Dragon. The knife was built from the ground up for her and only her to use, and therefore it can be considered that it can only be used to its full potential as a knife when Kiria herself is wielding it. The knife takes the appearance of a simple, obsidian-black blade, with a vague frost-blue shimmer to it and its edge. To wield it, Kiria graps it around a snowflake-shaped handle that is the same frost blue color that tints the rest of the blade. Due to this color combination, Snow White is considered one of the most beautiful knifes currently viewable in the Human World, and also seems to give off a very stately and aureal to everything around it, as well as itself. Thanks to both the incredible durability and sharpness of the Eve Dragon's claws themselves, the knife posseses an equal if not greater amount of cutting power, and is even capable of cutting through the likes of the Don Acorn if swung with a decent amount of force and power behind it, and it is capable of withstanding incredibly harsh enviroments and ingredients that do damage to the cutting knife if they are cut by them (though it can still take damage, and for this reason Kiria often sharpens it ever so slightly in her spare time, to make sure that it can stay at peak condition for whenever she needs to use it, no matter how sudden the situation). The knife's sharpness has also granted it the capability of unleashing compressed air slashes if it is flung through the air with great strength and force, with the size of the slashes depending on the amount of force that Kiria puts into the actual slash and movement. At times these slashes can even be used to provide some basic cooking from a great amount of distance away, though more complex knifework is impossible thanks to the overall nature of the flying slash capability and the list of techniques associated with them as well. The knife is also apparenlty capable of utilizing the forbidden Dark Technique, due to the Eve Dragon itself possessing regenerative capabilities (as demonstrated when it was capable of restoring its body slowly after being dealt damage by Marimo), which have been passed onto the properties of the knife itself. While this depends entirely on Kiria's own technique with the knife (and she does not reach this point of mastery until much later in the series itself), meaning that a much less competent chef the technique will be largely unusable. However, when wielded by Kiria or another chef of equal skill, the knife is fully capable of passing between the cells of a being or various ingredients, and then using its regenerative properties to restore the ingredient or beast little by little, offering the possiblity of the ingredient/beast being in fact eaten infinitely. Kiria always seems to keep the knife with her at all times. Full Course Menu Relationships Quotes Trivia *Her appearance is based off the character of Yukino Aguria from the manga/anime series Fairy Tail. *In somewhat keeping with the series' Journey to the West theme, Kiria best symbolizes the main character of the novel, Tang Sanzang, due to her own journey essentially starting the events of the series, as well as being one of the weaker main characters in the series. This is also reflected in her somewhat idealistic views in beliefs, in a similar manner to Sanzang himself. *She is the main female character and Chef of The Z-Meister. Category:Chef Category:Chefs Category:Original Characters Category:Zeon1 Category:Memoirs of a Bishokuya Category:Human Category:Female Category:Females Category:Combo